Democrats were quick to trumpet Friday’s strong jobs report, but it may be too late to help them much heading into the midterm elections next month.

The U.S. added 248,000 jobs in September, better than expected by economists. And the jobless rate fell to 5.9% from 6.1% — marking the first time since 2008 that unemployment dipped below 6%.

Great news for the party in the White House, right? Not necessarily. Analysts point to the small decline in average wages last month, and voters’ lingering perception that the economy isn’t doing great.

“It doesn’t hurt” Democrats, Greg Valliere of Potomac Research Group said about the jobs report in an email. “But I think attitudes won’t change much between now and the election – the public still thinks the economy is mediocre.”

An Associated Press-GfK poll released Wednesday is evidence of that sentiment. Just 38% of likely voters said the economy was “good.” Half as many thought there was any improvement over the last month.

Republicans were pretty quiet about the better-than-expected overall number and the drop in the unemployment rate. House Speaker John Boehner’s statement about the report didn’t acknowledge either.

But Boehner did mention what he called a “new normal of flat wages” and other measures. Indeed, average wages dropped slightly last month to $24.53 an hour. And over the past year, wages have risen just 2%. That’s down from 2.1% in the prior month.

“The key is, ‘am I getting paid more?’ The answer is no,” Stovall said in a brief interview.

He says the Republicans are still likely in the lead for the Senate, but he wouldn’t be surprised if the Democrats “pulled a couple seats out of their hat.” Republicans need six seats to win the Senate this fall.

Finally, here’s what Michael Strain, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said in an email:

I don’t think today’s jobs report will have any measurable impact on the midterm elections. Having said that, the general trend of the economy likely will. If anything, though, I would expect that to benefit Republicans: Wages and earnings have been flat, and that is what most households feel.